WCYR
WCYR is The CW affiliate serving Charlottesville, Virginia and the Charlottesville Market. Broadcasting on channel 46, WCYR was owned and operated by Evans Communications Launched in 1998, WCYR was an affiliate of The WB, when they were one of The WB 100+ Station Group. After The WB and UPN were acquired by Turner and Viacom because of the launch of The CW, WCYR became an affiliate of The CW. WCYR was owned by Cox Communications, who sold the station to Gray Communications in 2002 before Gray sold the station to Island Television. On Jan. 30, 2016, it was announced that Island Television, as well as Higgins Broadcasting, and Oakhurst Broadcasting, were merging into Adelphia Communications. So Island Television had to sell the station, and the station was sold to Evans Communications. On Dec. 30, 2016, Evans Communications sold the station to Tribune Broadcasting. WCYR also operates a subchannel: 46.2 (for The WB via The WB 100+ Station Group). On Aug. 11, 2017, Tribune traded away WCYR (along with WXXL in Rochester, NY) to S-man12 Broadcasting Group for WIHS (MyNetworkTV affiliate in Indianapolis, IN). History The origins of WCYR began on September 21, 1998, back when it was known as cable only "WBHA" and "WBC", a cable-only affiliates of The WB Television Network that was originally managed and promoted by Cox Communications alongside the launch ofThe WB 100+ Station Group, a similar service to The CW Plus that was created to expand national coverage of The WB via primarily local origination channels managed by cable providers in markets ranked above #100 by Nielsen Media Research. Since it was a cable-exclusive outlet and therefore not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the channel used the "WBHA" and "WBC" callsigns in a fictional manner. Prior to the launch of the cable channels, residents in the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg markets were only able to receive WB network programming on cable via the network's Washington, D.C. affiliate WVBW. Cox Communications sold the station to Gray Communications in 2002. On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of TimeWarner and CBS Corporation announced that they would put The WB and UPN up for sale. Turner and Viacom purchased those two networks and as a result, TimeWarner and CBS would use their resources to launch a new joint venture television service. The service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents "C"BS (the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros. unit of Time Warner. At the network's launch on September 18, WCYR became an affiliate of the CW, and 2 months later, shortly after Gray purchase, Gray sold both WBCV and WCYR to Island Television. On Jan. 30, 2016, it was announced that Island Television, as well as Higgins Broadcasting, and Oakhurst Broadcasting, were merging into Adelphia Communications. So Island Television had to sell WCYR, and the station was sold to Evans Communications, bringing the duopoly to an end. Newscast WBCV produced the newscast for WCYR until Evans Communications sold the station to Tribune Broadcasting. Tribune announced plans to launch Charlottesville's version of NewsFix Programming Schedule Category:Channel 46 Category:Charlottesville Category:Virginia Category:Former WB affiliates Category:CW affiliated stations Category:Television channels and stations established in 1998 Category:S-man12 Broadcasting, Inc.